We wanted to share some highlights from the 2017 Wisconsin Green Party Fall Gathering to keep you informed and empower you to get involved with the party for people, planet, and peace over profit.

Our gathering was a spirited exercise in grassroots democracy, with lively discussion and debate about building active local chapters across the state, running more campaigns at all levels, raising the funds we need to support a growing party, and how we can get our message out to reach the 61% of Americans who are fed up with the broken 2-party system.

Eric Marsch from NORML spoke about plans to decriminalize and ultimately legalize marijuana in Wisconsin. 64% of Americans now support legalizing marijuana, yet the overwhelming majority of politicians either oppose it or do nothing - a perfect example of how the 2-party system blocks real progress. Most Greens in attendance were enthusiastic about supporting the growing movement to legalize marijuana and end the failed, unjust policy of prohibition.

We elected new officers, and discussed goals we want the Green Party to achieve and how we can organize to do it. We decided to consider changes to our structure to become a more effective, accountable, and democratic organization and to actively encourage members to participate in building our party.

We need your help!

If you are interested in getting involved with the Wisconsin Green Party to help work on elections, membership outreach, communications, platform, finance, or information technology, please take a look at our committees and let us know how you might want to help.

If you are interested in helping the Green Party to review our structure and consider changes, including our party’s constitution, policies and procedures, please consider joining our Structure Team that is beginning to work on these issues.

We decided by consensus to update our membership dues structure to ensure that our party has the resources we need to grow and support new chapters and campaigns, without excluding anyone based on ability to pay.

Please become a member or renew your membership today to support our work!

It was a long meeting, but many dedicated Greens stayed for hours afterwards to keep discussing how we can build the Green Party into a more effective force for peace, justice, democracy, and ecology.

We’re looking forward to 2018 elections, but building a party of, by, and for the people can’t wait. Let us know today if you want to help and we’ll get back to you to chat about how you can get involved.

As we said at the close of our Fall Gathering: If not now, when? If not us, who? We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!

Peace,
Dave Schwab
Dace A. Zeps
Co-chairs, Wisconsin Green Party